Service creation apparatus for a communications network

• US 5,907,607 A
• Filed: 01/15/1997
• Issued: 05/25/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC (BT Group PLC)
• Original Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC (BT Group PLC)
• Inventors: Hunter, Andrew T., Cox, Richard D., Waters, Donald G. P., Turner, Graham D., Rand, Jeffrey K., Pavier, Jeremy
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Harry S.
• Application Number:
  US08/727,518
• Time in Patent Office: 860 Days
• Field of Search: 379/111, 379/127, 379/201, 379/207, 379/230, 379/269, 395/200.58, 395/200.8
• US Class Current: 379/201.03
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/135 Service creation
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13502 primitives - inc. service-independent building blocks [SIBBs]
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13503 object-oriented systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13535 distributed systems - also domains in service creation
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13547 subscriber, e.g. profile, database, database access
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0054 Service creation techniques

Abstract

A service creation system for a communications network of the intelligent network type has three different levels at which service creation activities can be carried out, these being SCE1, SCE2 and SCE3. The use of separate levels allows access to the service creation system to be kept functionally separate for users having different interests in the network. Hence, features which have to be installed at the network element level for a selected service to be available can be created in SCE1. Marketable service features, which give a view of features in that they encapsulate call handling logic thereof together with support and management descriptions of the feature, can be created in SCE2. Service packages, which permit collection of marketable service features to meet requirements of a service together with service-specific support and management information, can be created in either of Sce2 or SCE3. Profiles, which list the features relevant to a service for a user and provide data slots for the data necessary to each feature, can be provisioned and modified in SCE3.

Claims

1. A service creation system for a communications network, said system comprising:

a set of software tools for use in creating and/or modifying services available to users of the network including more than one level of service creation environment,

said levels having interfaces therebetween, and having different respective toolsets associated therewith such that selected different sets of operations offered by the service creation system are made available at different levels, and

wherein at least two of said levels are each provided with means to generate or access different respective types of software entity, wherein;

a) a first of said levels has means to generate or access service application features which comprise code objects which can be deployed in elements of the network; and

b) a second of said levels has

i) means to generate or access marketable service features, each marketable service feature comprising a reference to one or more service application features of the first level, together with graphical definition data for modifying or inputting provisionable aspects of said service application features by means of a graphical interface, and

ii) means to generate or access service packages, communicable to a third of said levels, each service package comprising a set of marketable service features or references to a set of marketable service features, together with at least one service template, the service template providing a tested expression of a service with embedded rules to impose constraints on operations by a user at said third of said levels to customize a service.

2. A system as in claim 1 wherein:

said provisionable aspects include billing and the graphical definition data therefore supports modification or input of billing aspects of at least one service application feature.

3. A system as in claim 1 wherein:

said provisionable aspects include network management and the graphical definition data therefore supports modification or input of network management aspects of at least one service application feature.

4. A service creation system as in claim 1 wherein:

the service creation environment is interfaced to a service management system and a service distribution system, for use in managing and deploying service functionality of the network, and

the different levels of the service creation environment are interfaced to different respective components or sets of components in the service management and/or service distribution systems.

5. A system as in claim 4 wherein:

a first of the levels is provided with an output to the service distribution system but no input therefrom, while at least a second of the levels is provided with both an output to and an input from said service distribution system.

6. A system as in claim 5 wherein:

a third of said levels is interfaced to the service management system.

7. A service creation method for a communications network, said method comprising:

using a set of software tools to create and/or modify services available to users of the network including level of service creation environment,

providing interfaces between said levels and associating different respective toolsets therewith such that selected different sets of operations offered by the service creation system are made available to different levels, and

using at least two of said levels to each to generate or access different respective types of software entity, wherein;

a) a first of said levels is generated or service application features accessed which comprise code objects which can be deployed in elements of the network; and

b) a second of said levels

i) generates or accesses marketable service features, each marketable service feature comprising a reference to one or more service application features of the first level, together with graphical definition data for modifying or inputting provisionable aspects of said service application features by means of a graphical interface, and

ii) generates or accesses service packages, communicable to a third of said levels, each service package comprising a set of marketable service features or references to a set of marketable service features, together with at least one service template, the service template providing a tested expression of a service with embedded rules to impose constraints on operations by a user at said third of said levels to customize a service.

8. A method as in claim 7 wherein:

said provisionable aspects include billing and the graphical definition data therefore supports modification or input of billing aspects of at least one service application feature.

9. A method as in claim 7 wherein:

said provisionable aspects include network management and the graphical definition data therefore supports modification or input of network management aspects of at least one service application feature.

10. A service creation method as in claim 7 wherein:

the service creation environment is interfaced to a service management system and a service distribution system, for use in managing and deploying service functionality of the network, and

the different levels of the service creation environment are interfaced to different respective components or sets of components in the service management and/or service distribution systems.

11. A method as in claim 10 wherein:

a first of the levels is provided with an output to the service distribution system but no input therefrom, while at least a second of the levels is provided with both an output to and an input from said service distribution system.

12. A method as in claim 11 wherein:

a third of said levels is interfaced to the service management system.